The Lord’s Table

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." – Matthew 26.26-29

Despite everything Jesus had said the disciples still could not comprehend everything that was about to happen. They gathered for the Passover meal as usual, but when they were nearly done Jesus did something different and something that must have been very mysterious to them.

Jesus took the Passover bread, blessed and broke it, and said ‘Take this, eat it, it is my body.’ He took the cup and gave thanks, gave it to the disciples, and said ‘All of you drink from this cup; it is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’ He then said ‘I won’t drink of the fruit of the vine until we drink it together in the Father’s kingdom.’

We now know the context of this event, but at the time the disciples were surely mystified. They had heard a reference to eating Jesus’ body and drinking His blood earlier (John 6) and Jesus explained then that He was speaking spiritually and not physically, but still it could hot have made real sense to them.

Despite all of that they did what He said, they simply did as Jesus told them.

We have the blessing of seeing the Lord’s Table in a historical context. Paul explained it in I Corinthians. In the bread and cup we have a remembrance of the death of Christ. We remember the sacrifice He made for us. It is one thing that all believers have in common. The observance of the Table is our opportunity to be linked to all believers in history and with other believers today.

The Table is a chance for us the share in the ‘fellowship of His suffering.’

I trust that we never take the observance of the Table as a ritual or routine. I trust as often as we do it we remember the Lord’s death and the redemption it provided for us. And I look forward to the day when we will share the Table with Jesus in the kingdom.